''Most of the people in the country feel terrible, and spending is down, but that hasn't been true in the Southeast,'' Ratajczak said.

Nonagricultural employment rose 3.5 percent last month to 6.1 million. That's 208,500 more jobs than in January 1995.

Metro Orlando's jobless rate for January, which should have been released in late February, will not be available until the end of March. State Labor Department officials said the federal government shutdown caused a delay in getting information needed to produce the unemployment report.

In other economic news:

Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in January, partly because of the Blizzard of '96, the government said Tuesday, as the economy continued to limp along early in 1996. Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted $199.1 billion, the Commerce Department said, a drop slightly less than the 0.4 percent decline private economists had expected. Sales rose a revised 0.6 percent in December, the department said.

The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 97 in February after dropping sharply to 88.4 in January. But the business research group noted that consumers, who account for about two-thirds of GDP, remain worried about the economy and jobs. The index stood at 99.2 in December.